Raymond Westerling

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Raymond Pierre Paul Westerling (August 31, 1919 - November 26, 1987), nicknamed the Turk, was a Dutch commander. He waged a bloody pacification campaign in the Sulawesi during the Indonesian National Revolution after the Second World War, and staged a coup in the city of Bandung in 1950.

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[edit] South Sulawesi

Westerling was born in Istanbul, Turkey, as a child from a Dutch father and Greek mother. During the Second World War, Westerling would join the Dutch military service and receive his training in England. After the War, Westerling would be sent to Dutch Indies, where in 1946 he would command the Depot Special Forces (DSF) to pacify the southern Sulawesi, where the Nationalists tried to hinder the return of Dutch governance. The DSF consisted mostly of indigenous soldiers and was an elite unit of the KNIL, and were relentless in their ways to subjugate the population.

[edit] Bandung

After the 1949 Indonesian independence, Westerling commanded a force, the Angkatan Perang Ratu Adil (APRA, Army of the Just King) of deserted Regiment Special Forces (one of successors of the DSF), and KNIL soldiers, to stage a coup in Bandung in January, 1950, to overthrow the Sukarno government.[1] Poorly planned, the coup failed and Westerling had to flee to Singapore.[2]

Although the Indonesian government wanted to try Westerling on war crimes[3], Westerling never had to stand trial for these allegations. He moved to the Netherlands, where he died in Purmerend in 1987.

[edit] Sources

  • de Moor, Jaap A. (1999). Westerling's Oorlog: Indonesië 1945-1950. Amsterdam: Balans. ISBN 10: 90-5018-425-1 ISBN-13: 9789050184250. 
  • Westerling, Raymond Paul Pierre (1952) Mes aventures en Indonesie. - translated from the French to English by Waverley Root as - Challenge to terror London: W. Kimber.
  • Boekholt, Ralph (1992). De Staat, Dr. L. De Jong En Indie: Het Proces Van Het Comite Geschiedkundig Eerherstel Nederlands-Indie Tegen De Staat Der Nederlanden over Deel 11A Van Het Koninkrijk Der Nederlanden in De Tweede Wereldoorlog 29 Maart 1986-10 April 1990. Moesson. ISBN-10: 9070301563 ISBN-13: 9789070301569. 
  • Westerling, Raymond (1952). Challenge to Terror. William Kimber. ISBN: B000LA8J5M. 
  • Lapre, S.A. (1989). Ned. Indie 1940-1950 in Kort Bestek: En Enkele Gevolgen, O.A. De Coup-Westerling En Het Zuidmolukse Verzet. Lapre. ISBN-10: 9080034010 ISBN-13: 9789080034013. 
  • Venner, Dominique (1977). Westerling: Guérilla Story. Paris: Hachette. ISBN-10: 2-01-002908-9 ISBN-13: 9782010029080. 

[edit] Further reading

  • Eric Ambler, The Night-comers or State of Siege (1956). Thriller set in the fictional "Republic of Sunda", which mentions "Turko" Westerling's attempt at Bandung as an example of the fragility of post-colonial states.

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Indonesia - The National Revolution, 1945-50
  2. ^ Jayakumar, S.:"Public International Law Cases from Malaysia and Singapore", page 108. Singapore University Press, 1974
  3. ^ A Mild Little Boy - TIME